(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cotton strippers.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In commercial practice today, cotton is harvested by either picking the cotton from the burr on the stalk or by stripping the entire boll of cotton from the stalk. The stripping may be accomplished by a stripper having rotating elements which extend along the stalk or by having a plurality of parallel fingers which angle upward from a finger tip near the ground to a cross conveyor behind the fingers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,511 to Burris et al. discloses such a cotton stripper as is in commercial use at the time of my invention. In addition to the fingers and conveyor, there is a series of kickers upon a shaft above the conveyor which kick some of the cotton and any weeds, large branches or the like which might tend to clog the fingers adjacent to the conveyor.
Before this application was filed, applicant caused a search to be made in the United States Patent and Trademark Office during which the following patents were discovered in addition to the Burris et al. Patent:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,294,898, Griffith;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,907,467, Tervo;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,816, Conrad;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,639,573, McLaughlin;
Conrad discloses a cotton harvesting machine which depends upon fingers to strip the cotton from the stalk. Bars are mounted on a single endless chain to pull the cotton up the fingers.
The other three patents disclose harvesting agricultural products other than cotton, such as beans, nuts or cranberries. These other type machines use brushes.